Demeter before Persephone
by GirlDressedInBlack
Summary: The Doctor, newly regenerated and newly reunited with her most enduring friend, somehow becomes pregnant with said friend's child. At times it's pleasant but at times it's impossible to live with Persephone's shade hanging over your Demeter, just waiting to be reborn and hoping to never be taken again. Unhealthy relationship. Thirissy (Thirteen/Missy)


_So I wasn't sure about this concept it was first requested it of me on but I decided to go with it thinking 'oh- cute fluff opportunity- okay' and then BAM! Angst and the Mistress' possessiveness joined the party, turned off all the lights and brutally murdered the party. So- in summary- sorry for the darkness but I can't control what characters decide to do and I'm sorry if this is triggering for anyone. Turned out a bit okayer by the end but I'm not really happy with this? It's okay as a challenge I suppose but I'm not writing for it again as far as I can tell._

The Mistress hums lightly, brushing her hand over the Doctor's arm and pulling her hand to rest between her breasts. This Doctor is only slightly taller than her but Missy still prefers being wrapped in her arms.

She hears the Doctor huff and seconds later a leg flops over her own, foot sliding down until Missy settles back fully, her back pressed into the Doctor's front.

"If you're looking for a round two I want at least a three minute nap and some tea." She says, only half joking.

The Doctor laughs a little, untangling her hand from the Mistress' grasp and stroking down the other Time Lady's stomach.

"Don't worry. I only want to hold you as close as I can until we both fall asleep." The Doctor states practically, "Maybe later though- let's not take that off the cards." She adds quickly.

"Ugh- domestic." Complains the Master, knocking her head back against the Doctor's gently.

"You're always a sentimental old fool." She says, pulling at the other Time Lady's hand and holding it to her chest again.

"You're the one who agreed to try and change your whole view of life for me and allowed me to imprison you on the slow path to teach you about it even when you had withdrawal symptoms to not murdering people." Replies the Doctor with a small smile.

"You _like_ domestic." The Doctor teases, nuzzling into the Mistress' hair.

"No I don't. I like _you_ and _you_ like domestic." Responds the Time Lady, scoffing a little.

"Sentimental old fool." Says the Doctor.

Missy laughs.

* * *

"Doctor?" Calls out the Mistress, looking at the Tardis readings with no small amount of curiosity.

The Time Lady is quick to respond, peering around a corner with toothbrush still in her mouth.

"Whu?" She asks eloquently, still brushing her teeth as she steps into the room.

Missy looks at her with hands on her hips and rolls her eyes.

"You might want to finish with your teeth before you get toothpaste in the grating again." She says, looking down at the floor, "You know it was not fun to get out at all and if I hadn't done it it would have been there for another few hundred years at least." The Time Lady reminds the blonde.

Unfazed by the complaint the Doctor holds up a finger and quickly ducks back into the bathroom to finish cleaning her teeth.

The Mistress takes the extra time to roll her eyes again and look deeper into the readings.

"What is it?" Asks the Doctor, teeth cleaned but hair still needing work, "If it's Nardole we can ignore him for a few days and get back to him a few seconds after he called. Same with calls from UNIT. If it's from someone called Sweetie you can patch them right through- I haven't seen River for a while and she said I reminded her of her second wife. I think that might be something that's coming up soon- not quite sure- the timelines are funny like that." She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to give it some form of order.

"No. It's none of that." The Mistress says.

"Anyway. These readings." She redirects the Doctor's attention, tapping the screen.

Obediently the blonde rounds the console and stares at the screen for a few moments.

There's silence for a few seconds.

"What." The Doctor says flatly.

"I'm going to presume that it's mine." Says the Mistress, also quite confused but hiding it much better than the Doctor.

"It's impossible though." The Doctor says, eyebrows descending with less drama than her last regeneration's had.

"That's just not how it works. I _thought_ that wasn't how it worked." Corrects the Time Lady, gesturing at the machine and giving the Mistress a helpless look.

"Do I look like I know how it works?" Says the Mistress, raising one eyebrow.

There's more stunned silence as the Doctor stares through the screen.

"But- I mean- it has to be yours. It couldn't be anyone else's. But aren't you female this time around? I _thought_ you were female- the humans did at least and they seem to be better at that than I am." The Doctor says confused.

"I don't know either." Missy states, mind cycling through confusion and hope and static, "Do you think there will be any books about it in the library?" She asks.

The Doctor just shrugs.

* * *

As it turns out there are no useful books in the library. Apparently anything concerning physical affection was considered too primitive to be written by the great Time Lords.

Somewhat desperately (but mostly in complete and utter loss of a clue about what to do) the Time Ladies end up going to a human antenatal class.

Needless to say it is more than useless considering that they aren't the same species and because humans seemed to understand even less the possibility of one female somehow getting another female pregnant.

The Mistress seemed to find it hilarious however and spends the next few hours quoting the human who had led the session.

The Doctor wishes they hadn't bothered if only because she would quite like the Mistress to stop dropping things on the floor and asking invisible people to pick them up.

* * *

They go shopping quite a few times considering that the Tardis could probably pull up a functioning nursery from its databases without more than a second to rearrange rooms.

They pick up a pram from a far flung star which is engraved in a long lost language even to the Time Lords.

Naturally the Mistress knows it and smiles at it in amusement, pulling it from its resting place and placing a large gem in the vendor's fourth hand on the left.

They visit various versions of IKEA and end up buying a lot of different bits of furniture which the Doctor creates a huge interactive toy from as the instructions are incomprehensible. She thinks she went wrong when trying to attach the table legs to the table but isn't quite sure she minds because it's a rather impressive if strange structure. Maybe one day she could sell it back to the humans as modern art?

The crown jewel of all the work though is the sturdy cradle.

It is carved from a solid piece wood from when the oldest tree in the universe fell. The Mistress had somehow obtained it and the Doctor thought it prudent not to ask how.

The two Time Ladies had worked for hours and hours to whittle it down to it's smooth form and carve their language into its sides. The gentle modulations of colour were barely noticeable but the sheer craftsmanship applied to the object made in an object of functional art only dreamt of by humans.

* * *

Time passes and both women pay little attention to it until the Doctor's stomach begins to swell.

More and more often the Mistress devises ways to keep her inside.

* * *

"I'll go and get it." The Time Lady says determinedly, "You stay here. Stay safe and I will go and get you your fruit." The Mistress says, already programming the coordinates into the Tardis.

"But I can help- it's my craving and it's a very difficult puzzle to get through." The Doctor promises, rising from her seat again.

The Mistress refusing, gently pushing her back down and kneeling to be closer to her level. She holds both of her hands.

"I am a Time Lady. I do not need your help right now and I will not have you risking two lives by falling into some kind of pitfall trap like the ridiculous idiot you are." The Time Lady steps back.

"Please just stay here Doctor. I'll be back as soon as I can be." The Mistress pleads.

The Doctor sighs, bringing her hands to her lap.

"I can't stay here forever Missy. You know I need to do something. It's been nine days now." She says sadly.

"I- I know. Soon. We'll find a small war- somewhere relatively safe. You can save them- I'll help you." The Mistress says.

"I promise. I promise. Soon." She tells the Doctor before she shuts the Tardis doors behind her.

* * *

"I can't do this Missy." The Doctor declares, pointing the weapon at the Mistress.

She swallows, biting her lip and looking at the Time Lady opposite her who stares at her with just as much pain in her eyes.

"I can't just stay here! These people need my help! The universe needs me. I know I'm pregnant and I know I could get hurt but I have to- you can't keep me here!" The Time Lady cries out, tracking the Mistress' position.

"But it you got hurt- if our child got hurt! Doctor I would kill them all!" She shouts back, furious. The Mistress can feel the call to violence surging within her.

"You can't do that- I'll come back- I always come back to you Missy!" Calls the Doctor, wrapping an arm around her stomach, "I didn't tell you but last week when you went out to get the Roahaca I went to a mining facility ran by the daleks on Kanril. I freed them all and I'm here- I'm still here Missy! You have to let me go- I can't stay here!" The Doctor yells back, weapon still trained on the other.

"You idiot! You absolute moron! How could you? You have my child and you are my- you are!" The Mistress clings to the console for support, glaring at her childhood friend.

"How _dare you_!" She screams, lunging towards the other Time Lady.

The Doctor scrambles away, both hands going to the gun as she slowly makes her way around the console to the doors. The Mistress pursues, blind to everything except keeping the Doctor inside and safe.

"I would kill everything for you! All this progress would be gone if you didn't come back! I would tear apart the universe! I would rip apart time itself for you! I spent seventy years in a box for you and you won't spend a few weeks in the Tardis- _your home_ \- for the sake of our unborn child!" The Mistress shouts.

The Doctor backs herself against a wall, gun aimed for the Mistress' thighs.

"Don't you dare use them against me! They are not a tool you can use to make me feel guilty- they are our _child_!" The Doctor unclicks the safety and looks the other Time Lady in the eyes, ignoring both of their tears.

"Two hours. It will knock you out for two hours." She says, "If I'm not back by then you can come and get me." The Doctor says, swallowing.

The Mistress spins out of the way of the first dart which pings off the central column. The second embeds itself in the Time Lady's leg as she leaps towards the Doctor.

She goes pale, eyes widening as her head tilts backwards.

"Can't believe you." The Mistress mutters, already falling.

The Doctor rushes to catch her but doesn't quite get there and the Time Lady hits the floor with a thud.

"Don't go." She whispers, eyes closing as the Doctor fumbles with the dart in her leg.

A weak hand lets go of the Doctor's shirt.

The Doctor sniffs, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the other Time Lady's brow.

"I'm sorry but I have to do this Missy. I'll come back. I promise." She says, standing again, shifting her weight back to counteract the child inside her.

They reach out in panic, mentally gripping her in confusion at the lack of one of their parents' minds.

The Doctor sends calmness back and the idea of sleep. She gets back acceptance but it comes with betrayal, worry and anger, obviously Missy's, tinged with their child's concern and curiosity.

The Time Lady looks over the other, laying prone on their floor and feels guilt swim through her.

"I'm sorry, Missy." She says, walking out through the Tardis' doors and into the warzone.

* * *

The Mistress awakens with her head on something warm but quite uncomfortable.

"Doctor." She calls out weakly, her head spinning.

A hand rests against her head and she leans into it.

"Shh. Lie down again." Comes the only voice the Master would always recognise. Missy obeys, rolling to rest her forehead against the Doctor's stomach.

"'M sorry." She says, lips clumsy.

The Doctor runs her hands through the Mistress' hair.

"Shouldn't got mad. Should've come with you." The Time Lady says, laying a hand on the top of the Doctor's stomach.

"Should've come with you." She repeats to their child who seems much more content than the Mistress last remembers. It doesn't stop them aiming a kick at her head through the Doctor's stomach.

The Doctor sighs.

"I'm fine Mistress." She states tiredly.

"Sorry." The Mistress says again.

"You should be." The Doctor says, hating herself as she speaks.

"You should be." The Doctor repeats, "If you ever do something like that again I'll kick you out. The Tardis listens to me. She stole me away to explore and help. I have to do that- it's part of me. If you ever stop me from helping people again I will throw you out on some uninhabited planet with a vortex manipulator. I have it planned. You will never talk to me like that again Missy. Never." She says, blinking back tears.

The Mistress tilts her head up, distress clear all over her face and the Doctor wishes she could take it all back but she can't.

If she did the Mistress would win and if the Mistress won she would never let go.

"Okay." The Time Lady says quietly, the side of her face pressed against the Doctor's stomach.

"Okay." She says, accepting it.

"Tomorrow we will go and renegotiate the peace treaty between the Nin and the Ka'ro'nils." The Doctor tells the Mistress.

Missy nods.

"Okay. Yes." She replies.

The blonde sighs again, head dropping backwards.

"No. Do you want to? It was a suggestion. We could just go to somewhere safe. A marketplace on Earth or that cafe with that ice cream you really like. Anywhere really. You need to get outside again- need to spend time outside for more than gathering resources." The Doctor says softly. The Mistress doesn't respond for a while, closing her eyes. The Doctor feels the faint ripples of awareness against her mind as the Mistress connects with their child's mind, apologising. She smiles.

"Can we go to that cafe?" She asks unsurely.

"Yes. We can." The Doctor reassures her, stroking a hand through the Mistress' hair.

"Will you wear the dress?" Missy asks, looking up at her friend pleadingly.

The Doctor huffs a little.

"Not this time. I'm still angry at you for what you did." She states, a little amused even as she feels the flash of rage go through her when she remembers it exists.

"I would be too." Admits the Mistress and the Doctor sighs.

"We're a mess." The Doctor admits.

"Always." The Mistress agrees.

* * *

The next day (well- when the Mistress has recovered enough) they end up going to the small cafe on an asteroid only just staying in orbit of its star.

It's nice.

The Mistress manages to not punch the waiter when he comes to serve them and the Doctor counts that as a success.

* * *

That night the Mistress rests in bed with the Doctor with her head against her stomach.

"Why do you do that?" Asks the Doctor, watching her curiously.

"What?" Replies the Mistress, eyes flickering up momentarily.

"Put your head on my stomach. I know you can hear their mind just as easily from across the room as with your head right there. It's a very human thing." The blonde comments.

It manages to make the Mistress pull away, spluttering.

" _Human?_ Are you out of your mind? There's nothing human about me!" She retorts, indignant.

The Doctor laughs.

"Alright then- why so you do it?" She asks again.

"Because I want to be close to you both- what else?" The Mistress answers incredulously.

"I can hear all of your hearts beating then." The Time Lady says, "It's nice." She defends herself.

"You really are a big cat." The Doctor teases.

"We are _not_ bringing that up again." Confirms the Mistress, crossing her arms, "I did not _try_ to get infected with that stupid virus." She asserts.

The Doctor snorts.

"Your fault for being so pawful." She mutters.

The Master stares at her in shock.

Mechanically she picks up a pillow and throws it at the Doctor's face.

"No."

The Doctor can't stop laughing even with a face full of pillow.

* * *

The Mistress frowns, tinkering with tiny cogs inside the small device she's building.

"Doctor?" She asks.

The Doctor stirs, peering over at the Time Lady with a yawn.

"Hm?" She says, the noise a request to keep talking.

The Mistress keeps fiddling with the gears, gently pressing them into place.

"When I kept you inside I was thinking about my daughter." She confesses.

"I didn't want you or our child to just go like she did. I don't want to lose anyone else to a stupid war." She says, inserting a key into the network and turning it gently.

The tiny creature thrums to life, wings unfolding and flapping as if the real thing.

It zips up towards the ceiling, dipping down and rising again before it circles back around to avoid the wall. It collapses into the Mistress' lap.

"I know." Says the Doctor, wrapping her arms around their childhood friend.

The Mistress cries.

* * *

The two Time Ladies look over the cradle, smiling gently.

"Look at their tiny fingers." Says the Doctor, smiling as they wrap around her finger.

"They're going to be brilliant." The Mistress says, enthralled by the same child gripping tightly to her thumb. She wiggles it to test the hold and smirks.

"They've got a good grip- that's going to be useful when we're running away from the monster of the week." She says with pride.

The Doctor huffs.

"You are most certainly not taking our child into the path of danger until they are at least thirty. We will visit nice, quiet, calm and safe places in the meantime." The Doctor says firmly.

" _Me_ taking them into the path of danger? _You_ took them out to fight in wars before they were even born!" The Mistress scoffs.

"Hypocrit." She finishes, sticking her tongue out at the other Time Lady.

The blonde just raises an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asks.

Missy nods.

"They're our child- they'll be kicking us out of the Tardis and taking down empires before they're twenty-four." The Mistress says.

"I'll help them. You'll watch us run." Missy says teasingly, leaning in towards the Doctor's face over the cradle which rocks slightly.

"I'll have to give you both my confession dial then." The Doctor says determinedly.

"Oh?" Says the Mistress challengingly.

"You'll be the death of me." The Doctor says with a smirk.


End file.
